{"id":15836,"date":"2025-11-03T23:29:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T06:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/semi-truck-driver-dead-after-plunging-off-wolf-creek-pass\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:52:15","slug":"semi-truck-driver-dead-after-plunging-off-wolf-creek-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/semi-truck-driver-dead-after-plunging-off-wolf-creek-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Semi truck driver dead after plunging off Wolf Creek Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=14ada0b1-0099-515f-808c-a954943ccef0&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"273\" height=\"182\" alt=\"A man from New York died Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, when the semi truck he was driving went over the edge of U.S. Highway 160 near mile marker 161, about 17 miles north of Pagosa Springs. Both the cab and the trailer were destroyed after rolling down the mountain. (Courtesy of Colorado State Patrol)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A man from New York died Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, when the semi truck he was driving went over the edge of U.S. Highway 160 near mile marker 161, about 17 miles north of Pagosa Springs. Both the cab and the trailer were destroyed after rolling down the mountain. (Courtesy of Colorado State Patrol)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>A 23-year-old New York man died Monday morning when the semitruck he was driving went off the edge of Wolf Creek Pass.<\/p>\n<p>Both the cab and the trailer were destroyed as the truck rolled down the mountain, according to Colorado State Patrol.<\/p>\n<p>The State Patrol responded at 8:21 a.m. to a 2020 Freightliner that had gone off the highway and down the mountainside, according to a CSP news release.<\/p>\n<p>The crash occurred 17 miles northeast of Pagosa Springs, just before the U.S. Highway 160 scenic overlook on the west side of the pass, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>The semi was heading west on Highway 160 near mile marker 161, \u201ctraveling at an excessive speed, with smoke coming from the brakes,\u201d when it hit a barrier wall on the right side and bounced off, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>The truck then rolled through a guardrail and down a steep embankment.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"naviga-map\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?q=37.451468115563%2C-106.88846817261&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Map\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>The driver failed to use the runaway truck ramp located 1\u00bd miles before the crash site.<\/p>\n<p>The driver was ejected from the cab and was not immediately located amid the extensive debris. He was later found and pronounced dead, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>The semi was carrying canned drinks, which spilled onto the road during the crash, according to the release. The Colorado Department of Transportation used a plow to clear the road of cargo and debris. CDOT and the CSP Hazmat Unit remained on scene for much of the day assisting with clean up, the release said.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=b1bea6ed-7afb-4453-ab77-4625c8f3baf1&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1542\" height=\"960\" alt=\"A hairpin turn on the west side of Wolf Creek Pass near the scenic overlook is the location of one of the most semitrailer crashes in the state of Colorado. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A hairpin turn on the west side of Wolf Creek Pass near the scenic overlook is the location of one of the most semitrailer crashes in the state of Colorado. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><div class=\"naviga-scoreboard\">\n<h4 class=\"scoreboard-title\">Newsletter signup<\/h4>\n<p>To sign up for daily and breaking news alerts, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.durangoherald.com\/newsletter-signup\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Recovering of the truck and trailer is expected be an \u201cextended process,\u201d according to the release, but no road closures were in place as of Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>The CSP\u2019s Vehicular Crimes Unit is handling the investigation. The driver\u2019s name has not yet been released.<\/p>\n<p>Motorists were advised to visit COtrip.org for updates on possible delays.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-74abf8eed56915998dac833e84dc5c3c\"><a href=\"mailto:epond@durangoherald.com\">epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Single-vehicle crash occurred Monday near scenic overlook northeast of Pagosa Springs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[255,28,254,69,373],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-death-and-dying","tag-headlines","tag-road-crash","tag-u-s-highway-160","tag-wolf-creek-pass"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15836"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77161,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15836\/revisions\/77161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15836"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}